I Survived
by morph
Summary: Pepper Potts wakes to find herself in trouble. Set between Iron Man 2 and The Avengers. One shot.


A/N: My first fic of 2012. I am so very out of practice, it's not funny. Anyways, this is about Pepper Potts and is set after "Iron Man 2", but before "The Avengers." I was inspired to write this by the many amazing stories of survival I've been watching on "I Survived..." on the Biography channel. Thanks, ishilde, for the beta!

WARNING for language and some adult content.

* * *

When Pepper Potts woke up her head was _pounding._ She blinked. Her vision was a little blurry. She wondered if she'd been drinking, but this didn't feel like a hangover. It felt more like head trauma, if she were to hazard a guess. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she realized that she was someplace she doesn't recognise. It looked like a cabin of some sort. She could smell pine - not fresh pine scent, but old pine logs. The room looked old and dirty. The last thing she remembered was being in her car and having to stop for a reason she couldn't recall. Then waking up here, wherever 'here' was.

She tried to move, only to realize she was sitting up in a chair and her wrists were tied behind her with some kind of rough material that was biting into her skin. It was tight enough that her hands were starting to go numb. She tried to speak and realized belatedly that she had duct tape over her mouth. Her legs were unbound. Fear was well and truly creeping in now, thoughts and heartbeat racing. Several words kept going around in her brain: _"Oh my God, I've been hit on the head and kidnapped. I've been kidnapped! Oh God." _

Two men, one in a black jacket and the other in a green shirt entered Pepper's field of vision. They looked young, mid twenties. They looked like average college guys. Both were caucasian and had short hair, one a slightly darker shade of brown than the other.

"She's awake," Black Jacket observed.

"Yeah? About time," Green Shirt muttered.

_"Why?" _Pepper thought. _"Why have these two caught me? Are they trying to get back at Tony somehow for something?"_

"So, who do you think she is?" Black Jacket asked, halting Pepper's assumptions. "I think I recognise her. She's probably rich."

"Yeah," Green Shirt agreed. "If she can afford a fancy car and clothes like that, she must be. Go look in her wallet. We can send a ransom note to her family or something."

As they walked away, Pepper tried her restraints again and discovered that while her wrists were bound she wasn't actually tied to the chair she was sitting in.

"Oh, shit! Oh, _shit!_" Pepper turned her head to the right and saw Black Jacket had been going through her purse. Its contents were spilled all over the dirty floor. He had her wallet open and was reading her drivers licence. Something about it was making him swear profusely. "I _knew_ I recognised her! Oh man, we are so _dead_!"

"What? What is it?" The other man went over to his panicking companion.

"She's Pepper Potts!"

"So?"

"So? She's been in the news! That's where I've seen her from! She's with that Stark guy, that Iron Man! We are so fuckin' _dead_ when he finds us!"

"Oh, shit." Green Shirt looked at Pepper as the first one started to pace, still clutching her I.D. Pepper avoided his gaze, but instead noticed that her phone was one of the items that had spilled out of her bag and she could see that it was on. Hope mixed with a strong flavour of relief bloomed in her chest. So long as her phone was on and didn't lose power, JARVIS would be able to trace it. That meant Tony would find her and then... well, Black Jacket was right. Her kidnappers were most likely going to be killed. She'd seen Tony's temper before when it came to protecting people he cared about. Hell, he told her once what he'd done in the Middle East to save people whom he didn't know. If he arrived before these two hurt her further, then maybe the two boys stood some kind of chance. Maybe.

"What are we gonna do?" Black Jacket asked. "Should... should we kill her?"

Pepper's breath caught in her throat and she pulled at her restraints in a primal flight response at the mere notion.

"If we're dead just for kidnapping her, what the hell do you think Stark's gonna do if we kill her too?" Green Shirt snapped.

Black Jacket paused. "Well, I guess he can't kill us twice. We could kill her, then run."

"No, man. I'm _not_ killing anybody."

"If we don't, and she gets away, she'll tell. She knows what we look like and everything!"

"I don't fuckin' know, man..."

"Wait! We could put her eyes out!" Black Jacket hurried to a small kitchen table that was off to the side of the room and grabbed a knife.

Pepper held her breath.

"She could still tell everyone what we look like, idiot!"

Frustrated, Black Jacket tossed the knife back down onto the table. Pepper exhaled.

"Well, what the fuck should we do then?" Black Jacket demanded.

"Stark is rich. He might still pay a ransom," Green Shirt said slowly, thinking out loud.

Black Jacket snorted. "No fuckin' way. He's more likely to just, I dunno, blast us with one of those lasers or whatever."

"I need a drink." Green Shirt growled, grabbing car keys out of his pants pocket. "I'm going to grab some beers," he said, heading for the door. "You stay and guard her. Stark won't be able to find us out here. We'll think of something to do with her when I get back." He was gone before Black Jacket could protest. Pepper could hear the her car engine start up and drive off.

Down to one. Pepper's thoughts raced, trying to think of a plan. She could wait, and Tony would come. She knew in her gut as sure as the fact that the sun would rise in the East that Tony would come. However, Black Jacket was looking really twitchy. She might have to make a move soon. Maybe knock him out somehow and run for the woods. She'd need to grab the phone first, so that she could call for help.

Black Jacket seemed to have come to a grim decision. He walked towards her with purpose, the knife in his fist. He stood in front of her and in his eyes Pepper saw the same kind of cold evil that she'd seen in Stane's eyes towards the end. With the hand that wasn't holding the knife, Black Jacket started to unbutton the top of Pepper's blouse.

_"Time to make a move," _she thought, hoping that this wasn't going to be the kind of stupid move that would result in her life being splattered all over the cabin floor.

She took a moment to aim, and then kicked upwards as hard as she could with her right leg. Her aim was true and Black Jacket dropped the knife, hunched over and stepped away with a cry of pain, clutching his groin.

Quick as she could, Pepper stood up and kneed Black Jacket, connecting with his jaw. This sent him to the ground where Pepper kicked him in the ribs for good measure. Then she ran for the door. No time to grab the phone. She couldn't do that anyway with her hands bound as they were. She had to put her back to the door to awkwardly turn the knob with her hands behind her back. Black Jacket was trying to get up, but he was too winded. Still, Pepper feared that she might not be able to get the door open. If she couldn't, she'd be in big trouble.

Something or someone was on her side because the door opened. Pepper ran out of the cabin without looking back again.

As she sprinted, Pepper realized how far remote this cabin was from civilization. There were nothing but trees and woods all around. The cabin was at the end of a long dirt road, which Pepper ran down as fast as her legs would carry her. She also noticed that it was starting to get dark, but she pushed that back to worry about it later. First she just had to get away. She saw a rough path off to her left that went into the woods. Hoping to avoid being spotted on the road from the cabin, she turned and started making her way down it, using the cover of trees to hide her.

When she eventually ran out of breath, Pepper was forced to stop. She leaned against a thick tree, gasping for air. Running hadn't helped her head any and she was feeling a little dizzy. Still, she strained her ears for any sign of Black Jacket or possibly Green Shirt following her through the woods.

Nothing. No feet stamping through the undergrowth, no cars from the road.

Pepper's relief was ruined when she remembered that she was alone in the woods with nothing but the clothes on her back, her hands bound, and night is falling fast. Tears burned her eyes, but she determinedly blinked them away. She still doesn't want to give up hope. She's alive, and she still believed with all her soul that Tony will eventually find her. His suit can pick up heat signatures, so she and every other warm-blooded animal in these woods would be easily spotted.

A lucky find of broken, jagged edge of rock provided a means for Pepper to cut her bonds, revealed to be old rope. She put it in her pocket along with the duct tape from her mouth thinking that they might be used evidence later if her kidnappers get arrested by the police.

She knew that her next goal for now would be to find shelter but that was going to be futile. The night was overcast and pitch black - impossible to walk in without a light. It was also cold. All Pepper could do was huddle down at the base of a large tree, her arms wrapped tight around her shivering body. Tears fell then. She wanted nothing more than to be home, in bed, curled up against Tony's warm body with the cool light of his chest arc reactor gently illuminating the room.

_"Please find me soon, Tony."_

It seemed like forever. It might have been one hour, it might have been two, Pepper couldn't tell, but she finally heard the sound she'd been praying for - engines. Specifically, the engines associated with Iron Man in flight. Almost light-headed with relief, Pepper got to her feet and scanned the sky, searching for the streaking blur of lights that would be her hero.

Her heart leaped when she watched Iron Man fly over her head and towards the cabin. As she suspected, he was tracking her cell phone. She had a mental image of him trying to call her after she didn't show up at the home they shared and either getting no answer, or, stupidly, Black Jacket picking up the phone instead. She wiped the dried tears from her face and sniffled. She'd have to wait a little longer, but he'd find her eventually. She just had to sit tight.

Some time later, she saw Iron Man once again blast above the tree line. There he hovered, and she assumed he was scanning for her. Knowing that she'd call more attention to herself by moving, she started jumping up and down and waving her arms. She also screamed his name into the night. She didn't know if that would help, but it was worth a shot.

At long last, Iron Man started to fly towards her. Pepper cheered. The sound of him landing near her almost made her deaf, but she didn't care at that moment. As soon as he was on the ground, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging the cold, metal armour. Tony's face mask clanked back and he hugged her back gently, aware that he could crush her. He seemed just as glad to see her as she was to see him. Later, in the hospital or at home, they'd crack snarky jokes at each other about this, but at the moment, there was just the seriousness and the exhilaration of a life-and-death situation over.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"They hit my head. They wanted to kidnap someone rich for a random."

"So why pick you? I'm the rich one."

That made Pepper smile a little. So much for the moment. Tony carefully scooped her up and his mask snapped back over his face. "Hold on."

She clutched him around his neck and shoulders and they took off to safety.


End file.
